Non-Existent Meetings
by Keira-House M.D
Summary: Or … Twelve ways Hermione Granger and Cedric Diggory never met. Hints of HG/CD


**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.**

 **Some of the twelve ways will be AU as they will take place after fourth year - if that is the case then Cedric never died. Other sections can be seen as missing scenes in canon. Hermione and Cedric will obviously both have heard of each other before each meeting takes place, but this shows how they could have met properly.**

* * *

 **1\. At The Burrow:**

It was the summer after their fifth year at Hogwarts and Hermione was staying with the Weasleys. Mrs Weasley, or Molly as she insisted Hermione and Harry call her, was holding a little party at the Burrow. It was a thanksgiving party that all the children had survived the school year under Umbridge relatively unscathed and that Umbridge was now gone, not to mention everyone's relief that there had been no casualties during the battle at the Department of Mysteries, despite the near miss Sirius had experienced with the Veil. All the Weasleys, minus Percy were going to be there as Bill and Charlie had come back home to stay for a few weeks.

Molly had also decided to invite members of the Order and the Diggorys - both Amos and his wife Abigail had been supporters of the Order since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, and they lived fairly close to the Weasleys.

The Diggorys were of course bringing Cedric. He had almost died in the Triwizard Tournament, the Portkey cup transporting both he and Harry to the graveyard where Voldemort and his followers were. It was only the fact that Pettigrew had such terrible aim, and that Cedric had faked dead, that had saved him. Poor Harry, he had been convinced Cedric was dead until they arrived back at Hogwarts and he started moving again.

The pair had shared the glory of the Triwizard cup and split their winnings, though Harry had given his share to Fred and George to help start off their joke shop, which even Hermione had to admit was excellent magic.

Hermione was very interested to see Cedric again. They had both been in the DA but she had never had the chance to speak with him properly and she was hoping to persuade him to teach her a few of the spells she had seen him use in the Triwizard Tournament and during the mock duels they held during DA meetings.

"Hey Hermione, come here."

She looked up to see Harry gesturing and she headed over to find him and the six Weasley boys present, all holding their brooms and gesturing towards the large field the Weasley family used for Quidditch games.

"We need an extra player, Hermione."

Her eyes widened, "no way, Harry, you know I don't like flying."

"Oh come on Hermione," said Ron, "we've got odd numbers and there's no one else to play."

"There are loads of other people here, Ron."

"Neville and Luna have gone off to find some creature that Luna insists lives near the pond behind the house, Sirius has had too much firewhisky to be safe on a broom so Remus and Tonks are trying to help him, the Diggorys aren't here yet, Kingsley is going to be late because he's with the muggle Prime Minister, and everyone else refused."

Hermione scowled, "well this is me also refusing."

"Please Hermione," Fred and George begged in unison.

"Why not just wait for Cedric to get here?"

"We don't know when the Diggorys will arrive and we want to get a good game in before mum serves the food," Ginny explained.

Hermione looked around at their pleading faces and felt her resolve shake a bit.

"Fine," she muttered, "but don't blame me when your game is ruined because I've fallen off my broom."

It all went fine for about fifteen minutes.

Hermione was pretty terrible, she knew. She hadn't complained when the two team captains (Harry and Charlie) had tossed a coin to decide who _didn't_ have to have her on their team. Still, she managed to stay on her broom (she had borrowed Sirius' as he was in no condition to use it at the moment) to start with.

Then Fred and George, on opposite teams, decided to start trying to dive-bomb each other.

She didn't even see them coming, too busy focusing on trying to stay on her broom as she flew as fast as she felt comfortable (not very fast at all) around the makeshift pitch doing her best to block the opposing team's Chasers (the only thing she could really do to help as she had not yet mastered managing to hold the Quaffle and stay on her broom at the same time).

Fred and George crashed into her with a bang and though they managed to cling to their brooms, Hermione found herself toppling off hers and wondering angrily why brooms didn't have more safety features.

She closed her eyes, tried to ignore the panicked shouts of her friends, and braced herself to hit the ground.

She hadn't been flying too high so her mind told her that she shouldn't receive any serious injuries from her fall. Still, she was sure it would hurt.

But the expected pain never came. Instead she felt herself hit not the grassy field but another person.

She opened her eyes slowly and Cedric Diggory's face came into focus. She blinked and looked around, noting that she was now sprawled across Cedric's lap as he sat on his broom, which hovered a couple of feet from the ground.

"I'd just arrived with my parents when I saw you fall. None of the others had time to get to you but I had my broom so I managed to catch you."

"Thank you," she said, blushing slightly for reasons she didn't want to think about.

Cedric steered his broom to the ground and helped her off, keeping hold of her arm as she willed her legs to stop shaking.

"I hate flying," she said as she finally stopped feeling dizzy.

"I guessed," Cedric gave her a wry smile, "but it was brave of you to try. I could give you a few lessons if you'd like – I used to help out the Hufflepuff firsties if they were having trouble in their flying classes."

"Thanks," she said, "but I'm not getting back on a broom any time soon …" she paused for a moment before deciding to use the opportunity and ask about his spells, "if … if you've got some time, though, I wondered if you'd teach me some of the spells you used in the Tournament and our DA duels – we haven't covered them in class yet and even though I found them in some textbooks I find it's much easier to learn when you've got someone to help and when you see the spell performed. But please don't feel obligated, I mean, if you don't have the time I–"

"It's fine, Granger," he cut her off with a laugh, "I'd be happy to show you some spells, though I doubt you need much help from me. Maybe later after the food?"

Hermione nodded and thanked him before he ran off the replace her in the Quidditch game.

She sat down on the grass next to Tonks to watch the game.

She no longer had to play (or try to play, in her case) Quidditch; Cedric was going to teach her some new spells; they would soon be enjoying a delicious lunch courtesy of Mrs Weasley; and Sirius, a bit drunk on firewhisky, was making a rather entertaining spectacle of himself that was giving her some _very_ interesting blackmail material.

It was turning out to be an excellent day.

* * *

 **2\. In The Library:**

Hermione made her way absentmindedly through the maze of bookshelves in Hogwarts Library. This was a place she felt safe in, comfortable in a way it was rare for her to feel elsewhere, unless in the company of her very best friends.

She took a seat at her usual table – perfectly situated in the quiet area and next to a window to allow for fresh air when wanted, natural light and a nice view.

She nodded to the table's only other occupant but as usual neither of them spoke a word.

Hermione and Cedric Diggory had begun sharing the table at the start of Hermione's third year. There had been no verbal agreement, just a silent understanding that it was an optimal place of study for both of them and that they were civilised enough to share without any fuss.

No one ever bothered them. Cedric's friends seemed to understand the importance of study (Hufflepuffs _were_ known for hard work after all), _her_ friends didn't step foot in the library unless they were desperate, and Malfoy seemed to think better of attempting to bully her right in front of a student two years older than them and well known for his belief in fair play and tolerance.

They had shared the table comfortably ever since, without ever having a conversation. They both saw the table as a place for work, not chatting, and though they always gave each other friendly nods and smiles, no verbal greeting ever passed their lips.

Hermione thought they were friends, though.

When one of them ran out of ink or quills or parchment, the other always had spare to push across the table. They shared their snacks (surreptitiously, because Madame Pince was a demon when it came to food in the library) when they knew the other had been working too long without sustenance. Hermione drew Cedric a detailed map of the layout of the library when she noticed his difficulty in finding the books he wanted in good time, and he passed her a book with a much better explanation of the topic they were studying in Ancient Runes when he noticed she was struggling.

It wasn't an obvious friendship, but it was there.

After about two hours of working in peaceful quiet, Hermione stood up and began to pack her things away. She had to get back to the Common Room because she'd promised to help Harry with his Charms homework and it was getting close to dinner.

She turned to leave, only to stop in shock when Cedric spoke.

"Hey Granger, do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Hermione dropped her bag in surprise and winced at the thud it made, glad that they were far away enough from Madame Pince's desk that the librarian would hopefully not hear the noise.

"You're joking, right?"

Cedric looked serious, "why would I be joking Granger?"

"Because we've _never_ spoken, because you could probably get a date with almost any girl in this school – and probably a fair few of the boys too – and because–"

He cut her off mid-flow, "I know we've never spoken," he said, "but I still know you. I know your favourite Honeydukes sweets are the Sugar Quills; you bite your lip and tilt your head when you're concentrating hard; you scrunch your nose up in a frankly adorable way when you don't like what you're reading; you look like you want to hex anyone who messes around in here while you're working; you _always_ carry spare parchment; you smile the most when you're doing your Transfiguration, Charms and Arithmancy homework; and you like to read muggle myths and legends for fun – I recommend you try the real magical history of the Arthurian period, it's a great story with some really interesting magic."

She gaped at him.

He grinned and winked, "there's loads more I could say. And I bet – I hope – you know just as much about me."

And Hermione, when she thought about it, found that he was right.

Cedric saw the dawning comprehension on her face and his grin became a satisfied smile.

"I like you, Hermione," he said, "and I'd like to see how we get on when we're actually talking to each other."

Hermione hadn't seen this coming, not at all. But the more she thought about the idea the more she liked it.

"Yes," she smiled, "I think I would like to go to the Yule Ball with you."

She hadn't been too excited about the ball before, but now …

Now she couldn't wait.

* * *

 **3\. In A Corridor:**

Hermione hurried down a deserted corridor chastising herself fiercely. She had a meeting with Professor McGonagall about her NEWT options and career choices in five minutes and was running rather late. Not only did Hermione hate being late for anything, she also didn't want to appear like she didn't care about her future career, because she certainly did.

"Damn," she muttered to herself as she felt the strap of her bag strain, fray and snap in seconds.

She knelt down to pick up the books scattered around her, now absolutely positive that she was going to be late.

"Do you need a hand?"

She looked up to spot Cedric Diggory, hand outstretched as he passed her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook, which had managed to slide further down the hall than the rest of her books, back to her.

She took it, but looked at it with some disgust – Umbridge's choice of text was not, in her opinion, worth the paper it was written on.

"No wonder your bag broke," Cedric said with a little awe as she managed to push her dozen or so books, along with quills and parchment, into her small satchel.

"I think my attempt at an Undetectable Extension Charm might be messing with my Feather Light Charm," she said, "I'll have to ask Professor Flitwick for his advice."

Cedric looked impressed – the Undetectable Extension Charm wasn't taught in class until the second half of seventh year and it was particularly tricky to master.

"Do you want me to see if I can help?" he pointed to her bag, "it would only be a quick fix but better than nothing."

"That you," she said, "but I'm already late for my career interview with Professor McGonagall – I got into another … disagreement with Umbridge about her course aims."

Cedric's expression darkened. He hadn't had quite as much trouble with Umbridge as Harry, but his attempts to confirm both Harry's story and his own lucky escape from the graveyard had been met only by condescension from Umbridge, who said that he had clearly been traumatised by the incident with Barty Crouch Junior (on whom the Ministry had placed sole blame, with no mention of Voldemort).

"I'll let you go on, then, I know how McGonagall gets about lateness."

He lowered his voice a little, "I guess I'll see you at the next DA meeting?"

She nodded, "should be Thursday but I'll confirm using the coins by tomorrow evening."

"We should partner up some time," he said with a wide smile, "I reckon you'd be an interesting opponent, Granger."

She just nodded as he turned and walked away. Despite them both being in the DA, he and Harry sharing the life-threatening experience of facing Voldemort in the graveyard, and him being Head Boy while she was a prefect, Hermione had never exchanged a single word with Cedric Diggory. Now he was complimenting her and offering to pair up with her at the DA meeting.

She wasn't one to get too fussed about boys (she had learnt her lesson after that fraud Lockhart in second year) but Cedric was … well he was very charming.

And, if Harry's recent good mood was any indication, he was no longer dating Cho Chang.

Even having to sprint up three floors, awkwardly holding on to her broken bag, in order to get to Professor McGonagall's office on time couldn't wipe the smile off Hermione's face.

* * *

 **4\. On The Hogwarts Grounds:**

Hermione had a favourite part of the Hogwarts grounds.

A grassy area underneath a huge willow tree that hid the area from those who did not know to look for it. It had a lovely view of the lake and was close enough to the castle that it was relatively quick and easy to get back inside if the weather took a cold or rainy turn.

Best of all was the fact that it seemed undiscovered by the vast majority of the school, and she had never once come across another student enjoying the charming balance of nature, fresh air and peace it offered her.

She had come outside not to study for her exams (she was well prepared thanks to a strict study schedule and her tendency to read ahead) but to try and find some more spells that might be useful to Harry in the third task.

She had attempted to work in the Common Room but, as most of her Housemates were only just now at the stage of starting to panic about the tests they had barely begun revising for, it was currently a rather stressful environment. Besides, Ron was getting on her nerves a bit with all his insistence that Harry had the Cup in the bag – Hermione wanted to be supportive of her friend but the tournament was dangerous and the other champions were older and more magically knowledgeable.

Her goal was to get Harry through the end of the tournament alive and (hopefully) not seriously injured – and since the end of their school year always seemed to involve danger of some sort she was doing all she could to get Harry as prepared as possible.

She was half way through the sixth year Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook that she had borrowed from the library, with about two feet of parchment filled with notes on spells that might be useful to Harry (and that he might be able to learn in the short time-frame before the final task) when she heard a noise behind her.

She spun around quickly, pulling her wand out as she turned, only to find herself face to face with a slightly sheepish looking Cedric Diggory.

"Sorry," he said, "maybe I should have announced myself. Hermione Granger, right? Do you mind pointing your wand away from my face – it's only that I've heard some pretty scary things about your magical abilities and I'd rather not get hexed so close to the last task."

Hermione blushed and lowered her wand immediately, "sorry," she muttered, "you surprised me. I didn't realise anyone else knew about this spot."

"I've never seen anyone here when I've come," Cedric said, "I didn't realise anyone else had found it until I saw you here today. It's a nice spot …"  
Hermione nodded, "very quiet," they both said in unison.

They looked at each other and laughed, "I guess it gets loud in the Gryffindor Common Room," Cedric said, "especially with the Weasley twins around."

"I've heard Hufflepuff can get plenty rowdy too?" Hermione ventured.

Cedric gave her a lop-sided smile that reminded her exactly why most of the girls in Hogwarts were half in love with him, "we're a very friendly House and we all like to celebrate everyone's victories – it sometimes gets a bit … overenthusiastic."

"That's nice," she said, "that you're all such good friends. Sometimes I think all Gryffindors want to celebrate is Quidditch victories and overly dangerous incidents. And while almost all of them celebrated Harry's name coming out of the goblet –" she paused to give him an apologetic look, "I think only Neville, Ginny and I actually believed that he didn't put his name in himself."

Cedric shrugged and looked a little bit uncomfortable. She guessed that he, like most of the school, was unsure whether to believe Harry's insistence that he had not put his name in the goblet.

"I never saw what happened," he said, "I was in the side chamber with Krum and Fleur – I only heard silence and then a lot of whispering. There were loads of rumours going around, though. Someone told me Potter stood up on the Gryffindor table when his name was announced and told everyone that they should be cheering for him alone because he had saved them all from You Know Who."

Hermione opened her mouth to give what promised to be a _very_ indignant response, but Cedric just put his hands up in mock surrender and laughed, "don't worry Granger, no one believed _that_ one."

She nodded, but there was still a little stiffness in her voice when she spoke, "I know it wasn't Harry. His face when Professor Dumbledore read his name out – he couldn't fake that look of surprise. Harry definitely isn't that good of an actor."

Cedric nodded and she appreciated that it was genuine, that there wasn't any pity in his expression suggesting that he thought Harry was fooling her.

"Potter's got some talent from what I hear," he said, "but it seems to be in more do or die situations. I reckon that it would have taken a lot of work to fool that goblet – more your area, really, isn't it?"

She blushed a little at the compliment, and because Cedric's smile really was very charming.

"I wouldn't want to be in the tournament," she admitted, "I still can't believe Professor Dumbledore agreed to host it considering what's happened in the past."

"I guess it did used to be dangerous," Cedric agreed, "but I trust Dumbledore and I don't think he'd allow it to happen now if he thought people might be seriously hurt."

"Maybe," Hermione said, still not completely convinced.

The two of them went quiet. Hermione felt a bit awkward and wondered if she should get up to leave.

But the choice was taken from her as she felt the first drops of rain slipping through the leaves and onto her head. She looked up to see dark clouds in the sky.

She waved her wand to pack her things into her bag and took Cedric's hand gratefully when he offered it to her to help her up.

They walked out of the clearing together, moving quickly as the rain got heavier.

Then Cedric stopped and gave her a cheeky grin that would have looked more in place on one of the Weasley twins.

"Race you to the castle entrance, Granger?"

She looked a little incredulously at him – wasn't Cedric supposed to be a prefect?

"I'm sure everyone likes a bit of fun sometimes, Granger, even you. Come on – if you beat me I'll teach you how to cast _Expelliarmus_ non-verbally."

He caught her attention with that – they didn't start learning to cast silently until sixth year and it seemed like it would be a really useful talent.

He smiled when he realised she was hooked.

"Three …" he said, and she tightened her grip on her school bag, "two … one … GO!"

They both took off laughing.

* * *

 **5\. During The Yule Ball:**

"What's wrong Granger? Pretty girls like you shouldn't be crying, especially not on a night like this."

Hermione wiped a hand over her damp eyes and tried not to look too distressed as she looked up to see a concerned Cedric Diggory.

"No need to lie to make me feel better Diggory, I'm well aware that I'm plain."

"You are anything but Granger, haven't you noticed how many of the boys have been staring at you all night - Weasley must have caught flies with how wide his mouth was."

She couldn't help but smile at his kind words, even as they made her blush, but thoughts of Ron irritated her.

"I don't care what Ron thinks, he made it perfectly clear to me that I was fraternising with the enemy."

"Who says I was talking about him, I know for a fact that Fred and George both thought you looked good tonight, I heard them talking about it while I was listening to Cho drone on about Potter."

"Erm, wasn't Cho Chang your date?"

"Yes."

"So why was she talking about Harry."

"Not sure really. She was just babbling on about how he was so young and she felt sorry for him, being forced into the Tournament and all that. Then she said he'd asked her to the Ball."

"Yes, he did, it sounded like a bit of an embarrassing situation when he told me about it."

"I don't think she's who I thought she was - I mean who talks about another guy on a date."

"Who knows, she's probably just trying to make you jealous so you like her more."

"Maybe … you should write a book you know, 'Weird things girls do and how to translate them'."

"Hmm, sounds like an interesting title."

"Anyway, I have to go, got to walk Cho to the Ravenclaw Tower - night Granger."

"Night Diggory."

* * *

 **6\. During Prefect Duties:**

As Hermione settled onto her four poster bed she pulled out the prefect duty timetable she had been given by the two Head students on the train. She was thankful that neither of the Heads were Slytherins, figuring they would have probably dumped most of the duties on the other Houses, especially Gryffindor. As it was, the Head Girl was Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor and the Head Boy was Cedric Diggory, probably the most popular student in Hufflepuff and back for his seventh year after almost dying in the Triwizard Tournament - Hermione was very pleased with both appointments, as were most students (minus the Slytherins of course).

The meeting had been brief, mostly due to the huge number of students hanging around outside the Prefects Compartment trying to see or speak to Cedric about the Triwizard Tournament.

The protocols had been briefly mentioned, but were detailed further in the Prefects Handbook. Hermione was well aware that a fair few wouldn't even glance at it (Ron likely among them) but she planned on going through it thoroughly - she might be more willing to break rules than she had been in first year but it always paid to know her way around the regulations anyway.

She looked through the prefect timetable, relieved to find that the shifts were pretty fairly spread out and that she had no patrols at all with the Slytherins – a very wise choice, she thought.

It seemed that the Heads had decided to choose the patrolling pairs from different Houses, probably so that there was always an older student around in case real trouble broke out.

It looked like she was in one of the pairs assigned to patrol that night and her partner was Cedric Diggory.

She resolved not to say anything to Lavender and Parvati – they'd only get jealous and ask her to tell them every single thing that Cedric said and did.

She looked at the clock on their dorm room wall and started in surprise. She hadn't realised it was so late and she knew she'd better hurry to get to the Hufflepuff Common Room, where her prefect rounds would begin, on time.

She stood, pulled her Gryffindor robe on over her uniform and hurried out of the room.

She met Cedric outside the Hufflepuff Common Room, greeting him with a smile and trying not to blush – she admired him very much and while she wasn't as open about her admiration as many at Hogwarts she still felt a bit shy around him.

They set off on their patrol and Hermione was quickly put at ease by Cedric's cheerful demeanour and helpful hints for patrolling and dealing with troublesome students.

Their shifts lasted for two hours but Hermione, by the time they were finishing up, found herself wishing that it was a bit longer. Cedric was so intelligent and she was very interested in their conversations. But there would be other patrols – she thought her schedule said she would be paired with him perhaps one patrol a week – and she would hopefully find time to continue their chat about creative uses of simple spells in duelling.

As they reached the Hufflepuff Common Room she heard Cedric's stomach growl.

He looked a bit embarrassed, "didn't get much to eat at dinner," he admitted.

Hermione thought about the kitchens and the entrance she had found the year before, "I know a way into the kitchens," she told him, "and the House Elves love to give out food if you're hungry.

Cedric smiled widely at her, "you're a lifesaver, Granger, my housemates would kill me if I tried to eat their Honeydukes stash."

So she led him to the painting of bowl of fruit and showed him how to tickle the pear to get the doorknob to appear.

"That's brilliant," he said, "do you want to come in too, Granger – it would be nice to have some company."

Hermione grinned and nodded – it looked like she'd get to finish her conversation with Cedric sooner than she thought.

* * *

 **7\. In The Hospital Wing:**

Hermione winced as Madame Pomfrey dabbed various ointments and creams on her hands. She was going to make that Skeeter woman pay if it was the last thing she did - letters or even Howlers were one thing, but an envelope filled with Bubotuber Pus was just ridiculous, and dangerous.

Madame Pomfrey was muttering mutinously about vindictive reporters, vicious housewives and abuse of children as she worked, and Hermione didn't notice when someone else entered the Hospital Wing.

"That looks painful Granger," she heard from behind her, and turned around to see the handsome Hufflepuff champion looking down at her.

"Ah Mr Diggory, what can I do for you," asked Madame Pomfrey.

"I've been sent to get some Flu Potion for one of the Hufflepuff second years," Cedric explained, "she's holed up in bed."

"We've run out up here," Madame Pomfrey murmured, "I'll go and get some from Professor Snape's stores. Would you mind finishing bandaging Miss Granger's hands, I know you took the Healing seminar last year."

"Sure Madame Pomfrey," Cedric said easily, switching places with the nurse and grinning at Hermione, who managed a weak smile in return.

Madame Pomfrey disappeared a minute later and Hermione looked nervously at Cedric, who was bandaging her hands slowly and carefully.

"Rita Skeeter is just a stupid gossip hound," he said quietly, "she's taking it too far to rage against a fifteen year old girl, especially when stuff like this happens."

Hermione skipped right over the fact that he knew she was fifteen, not fourteen (it was fairly well known that she was one of the oldest in their year) and felt rather touched by his concern, "I sort of shouted at her, in Hogsmeade. For good reason of course, but that's probably why she has it out for me. I'd think it was obvious that Harry and I are just friends – he's like my brother."

Cedric laughed, "it is obvious, you mother him incessantly."

"Diggory!" Hermione protested, but he raised his hands protectively, "I'm not saying it in a bad way Granger, calm down – I'm really glad you can't hold your wand right now."

He finished bandaging her hand in quick order, securing the last wrap as Madame Pomfrey returned with a small vial that was smoking slightly. Cedric took the vial, Hermione stood and both thanked the nurse for helping with their respective problems before heading out of the door together.

"You know you're not going to be able to use those hands for a few days," Cedric said as they walked along the corridor, "it'll probably hurt more than help to try writing, or even casting spells. I'll walk you to Professor McGonagall's office and she can help you make sure you get the work for the next few days, because I know you'll want it."

Well that was no secret; her love of knowledge and work was known throughout the school, even to first years. Still, she didn't like the idea of missing lessons, even if she had reason.

"Just agree with me Granger, it'll be easier, and if you don't I'll just go to McGonagall myself because you shouldn't have to use your hands when they're in that condition."

"Fine," Hermione muttered mutinously, "but I've no idea what I'm going to do about eating with my hands twice as big as normal."

Cedric's brow furrowed before he smiled again, "I'll meet you down in the kitchens tonight for dinner – people miss dinner all the time so no one will notice – and I can help you so you have some practice before attempting it in public."

She wanted to say no, didn't want to put him out after he'd been so helpful, but the offer was sincere and she so desperately didn't want to be gawked at as she attempted to eat so clumsily, "ok," she agreed resignedly, "I'll meet you in the kitchens at five."

"It's a date," Cedric said with the smile that had charmed so many girls, "this is your stop then," he told, gesturing to McGonagall's office, "see you this evening Granger."

Then, with a wink in her direction, he headed towards the Hufflepuff Common Room and she realised two things: one, she might just fancy Cedric Diggory a little bit, and two, the Hufflepuff Common Room was on the other side of the castle to Professor McGonagall's office.

She was still smiling when she entered the Transfiguration professor's office.

* * *

 **8\. In The Hogwarts Kitchens:**

Hermione entered the Hogwarts kitchens to a tirade of swearing that she soon discovered belonged to someone she never expected it to – Cedric Diggory.

"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly as she took his position surrounded by a number of broken platters and ruined food, "I think I may have been trying to balance too much food."

"Clearly," she grinned at him, the relaxed atmosphere and his less than perfect appearance (rumpled uniform, tired eyes, surrounded by mess) making her less nervous than she would usually have been around the Triwizard champion.

"I've been practicing my spells," he explained, "got a bit caught up and missed dinner."

"Well the House Elves are always delighted to offer food so you should be loaded down with more plates quickly," she told him, and sure enough the Elves were soon swarming around tidying up the mess and offering Cedric a huge choice of food items.

As the Elves brought out new plates Cedric sat down and gestured to the bench opposite his, "I better not try to take all this away again, don't want to cause any more waste. Do you want to join me – I'm assuming you're here to eat?"

Hermione nodded and took a seat, "I missed dinner researching spells for Harry – I like working in the library at that time because it's more peaceful."

"You're a good friend," he said.

"Harry needs all the help he can get," she sighed, "and Ron isn't helping, not believing him about not putting his name in."

"Most of the school don't believe Potter," Cedric said, " _I'm_ not even sure I do."

"Yes, but Ron is supposed to be Harry's best friend. He's supposed to believe that Harry would tell him the truth."

Cedric gave her a sympathetic look, "so Potter didn't enter. Some people were saying he had help – that _you_ helped him."

Hermione laughed, though it wasn't a particularly happy sound, "I hate the idea that this tournament is going on. No matter the safety precautions it is still a tournament that people have died in before and I don't think it has any place at a school – I wouldn't have helped Harry enter. And he didn't do it himself – the look on his face when Dumbledore read his name out convinced me of that."

"I think I might actually believe you," Cedric said, "Potter's never been vain or arrogant about his fame, no matter what Professor Snape likes to say."

Hermione smiled widely at him – it was nice to have someone believe Harry for a change.

"Now come on," Cedric said, "enough about the tournament – I've spent all day drilling myself on hexes and I need a break. What do you think about attempting an entire profiterole tower between the two of us for dessert?"

It would, Hermione thought, almost certainly make them both sick. And her dentist parents would be horrified if they knew. But she'd worked hard and she deserved a treat.

"Let's do it," she said with a grin.

* * *

 **9\. At Grimmauld Place:**

Hermione had been at Grimmauld Place for a week when she wandered downstairs one morning, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and knocked into someone just as she was about to enter the kitchen.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking up and expecting to see Sirius or Remus, both of whom were living at Grimmauld Place, or even perhaps Tonks or Kingsley, who often stopped by briefly before they went into work. She blushed excessively when she realised it was Cedric Diggory.

It wasn't that she fancied him, though he was clever and handsome and brave, but it was embarrassing to run into someone she barely knew - she was just thankful that she'd had the foresight to change from her pyjamas into actual clothes, even if she was just wearing jeans and a shirt.

"I didn't realise you were here, Granger. The Order said Potter wasn't coming until the end of July, and the Weasleys would be here next week."

"My parents have a conference they're attending in France," she explained, "so it seemed easier for me to just come here rather than staying with family friends. Are you staying too?"

He nodded, "my parents thought it would be best to have me under the Fidelius Charm for the moment, especially with Fudge denying what happened."

Hermione frowned at the mention of Fudge – he was hiding his head in the sand right now and she was sure it wouldn't end well.

"Professor Lupin said you could show me round the house – I think he and Sirius are trying to de-contaminate some of the rooms at the moment."

"Yes, it's difficult work," she said, nose wrinkling at the memory of some of the disgusting things they'd found in the house so far, "but at least the library is one of the cleared rooms now so you can use that if you want. Sirius, Remus and some of the other Order members sorted the darker books out and moved them somewhere a bit safer so you can look through what's left without worrying about any dodgy curses."

"Brilliant," Cedric said, "I want to get as far ahead as I can in Defence Against the Dark Arts this summer in case we get a useless teacher. Do you want to join me – I can help you with the fifth year stuff and I bet you'll be able to do a lot of the sixth year work as well."

He smiled widely, showing off perfect teeth that her parents would absolutely gush over.

Hermione didn't fancy Cedric … yet. But with a week before the Weasleys arrived and the adult Order members either working or waging war against the dark artefacts at headquarters, she knew she'd be spending a lot of time with him and she had a feeling that time would only improve him in her eyes.

Well, at least it wouldn't be a boring summer.

* * *

 **10\. On The Hogwarts Express:**

Her first prefect meeting wasn't due to start for another ten minutes but Hermione wanted to get to the Prefect Compartment early to collect her thoughts and escape from Harry and Ron's Quidditch conversation. She probably should have waited for Ron since he was likely to lose track of time and wander in half an hour late but she knew he had to learn not to rely on her in regards to time-keeping.

She expected to find the compartment empty. She didn't think she'd find the new Head Boy growling in frustration.

Cedric Diggory was the obvious choice, the only choice really. Hermione thought that he and Angelina Johnson, who had been named as Head Girl, would make an excellent team. But right now Cedric was bothered by something entirely unrelated to his new duties.

He dropped a pile of textbooks as she walked in and slumped back into his seat in a display not at all in keeping with his usually cheerful disposition.

She knew the reason for his difficulty. He had survived a meeting with Voldemort and his Death Eaters by playing dead, but the price he had paid had left him with a stump at his left elbow. It wasn't his wand hand, which would have caused severe and lifelong difficulties, but he was still having trouble getting used to the new prosthetic the Order had mentioned he had been fitted with over the summer. His spellcasting wouldn't really be affected, but everyday tasks using his left hand or both hands had suddenly become a lot more difficult.

She wanted to lean down and help him pick up the books but she got the feeling that it wouldn't be welcome. Even the most genial of people could be stressed by bad situations and Cedric had experienced an incredibly traumatic one.

Instead she settled for a breezy tone of voice, "textbooks can be so heavy," she said to him, "I'm really glad someone taught me the Feather Light Charm."  
Cedric looked up, only the slightest blush revealing his embarrassment, "I can't get used to it," he admitted, gesturing to his prosthetic, "sometimes I just want to set the bloody thing on fire."

"I can help with that," Hermione told him, "I've got something of an affinity for fire spells."

She grinned and Cedric let out a short laugh. She was pleased to have lightened the mood and sat down next to him as he slowly but successfully picked up all his books without any other accidents.

"I guess St Mungo's didn't give you much information about dealing with that prosthetic?"

Cedric nodded, "it's the latest model but they didn't give me a handbook or anything, only told me to practice using it."

"My parents are doctors rather than dentists but they've got a lot of muggle medical contacts. I could see if they can get their hands on something for you, instructions on useful exercises to try or something like that."

"Really," Cedric perked up, "that would be really great, Granger. My parents are trying but they've got no idea what to do and it's almost painful to be around them sometimes, especially my dad."

Hermione could guess the difficulty. Amos Diggory was so proud of his son and she imagined the loss of one of Cedric's hands, even the non-dominant one, would have given him a severe shock.

"It's ok, you know," she said quietly, almost hesitantly, "you can be angry and frustrated if you want – no one should blame you after what happened. But you survived … survived Voldemort."

"I played dead," he muttered, "there's nothing brave about that."

Hermione gave him a severe look, "bravery in that situation would probably have just gotten you killed. You did the sensible thing and you are alive because of it. Anyone who thinks less of you because of how you reacted in the graveyard or because of the loss of your hand is an idiot."

She surprised herself with her fierceness and ducked her head in embarrassment at having spoken in such a familiar way to someone she had never properly met before now. She only lifted her head when Angelina and the other prefects began to enter the compartment.

But, as she looked towards the Heads as they spoke about the prefect patrol schedule, Cedric caught her eye, smiled slightly and mouthed two words to her that made her sure she had done the right thing in speaking with him.

"Thank you."

* * *

 **11\. On The Way To The Quidditch World Cup:**

Mr Weasley spoke with Amos Diggory as they waited for the five minutes to elapse before their Portkey became active, and Cedric Diggory offered cheerful greetings to Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys.

Fred, George and Ron only nodded in return – she guessed they had not yet completely forgiven Cedric for Hufflepuff winning the Quidditch match that the Dementors had invaded and for him catching the Snitch before he realised what had happened to Harry.

She rolled her eyes. They could be so childish when it came to Quidditch.

Harry offered a friendlier greeting but, looking awkwardly between Cedric and the glowering Weasleys, he soon joined the latter with an apologetic look at Cedric.

Ginny gave a quiet hello but seemed overcome with shyness and unable to say much else.

So it fell to Hermione to speak with Cedric. Like Ginny she was a little inclined to shyness, for despite learning her lesson with Lockhart, Cedric _was_ very handsome and she was not immune to that.

He was clever too, though, and she had heard he was nice, so they got on well enough with a brief conversation about Transfiguration – it turned out that they both subscribed to the monthly _Transfiguration Today_ periodical.

When Mr Weasley called them all over to grab hold of their Portkey, Hermione realised she was rather sorry to end her chat with Cedric. She didn't often get the chance to talk academics with older students and she decided she rather liked it.

As their group crowded around the old boot Portkey that would take them to the Quidditch World Cup campsite, Hermione found herself squashed between Cedric and Ron as they all attempted to get a finger on the Portkey.

"We should meet up in the library when we're back at Hogwarts, Granger," Cedric said to her, "finish our conversation about the Animagi article in this month's _Transfiguration Today_ – you've got some interesting thoughts on Animagus transformations."

"I did some reading on the subject recently," she told him, not mentioning the practical experience she had received not so long ago from the debacle involving Sirius and Peter Pettigrew, "but yeah," she smiled, "that would be great."

Next to her, Ron scowled.

Cedric ignored him and winked at her.

And then, before Hermione had a chance to react to Cedric's mild flirtation with something other than a comical gape, the Portkey activated and they were whirled away.

* * *

 **12\. In The Forest After The Quidditch World Cup:**

In the chaos that had taken over the campsite Hermione had been separated from Harry and Ron. With no idea what direction Fred, George and Ginny had headed she found herself reluctant to move out of fear that she would get hopelessly lost.

But she had spotted Malfoy just a moment ago, with the hulking shapes of Crabbe and Goyle on either side, and so now she hurried in the opposite direction to avoid a confrontation.

She wasn't looking where she was going, angered as she was by hearing Malfoy's cruel laughter as he talked with Crabbe and Goyle about 'stupid muggles getting what's coming to them'.

She turned right around a clump of trees, passing a huddle of teenagers speaking in rapid French (Beauxbatons, she assumed) and two boys about her age whose American accents suggested they came from Salem.

"Ooof."

She stopped short as she felt herself collide with someone.

A hand shot out to steady her and she looked up with an apology forming on her lips.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she recognised Cedric Diggory, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No one giving you any trouble?" he asked, concern written across his handsome features.

She shook her head, "I almost ran into Malfoy and he was saying such horrible things about the muggles. I was in a hurry to get away before he saw me."

"Would you have punched him again?" asked Cedric with a playfully roguish twinkle in his eyes.

"How do you know about that?" she asked, half proud and half embarrassed, "I didn't think there was anyone else there but me, Harry, Ron, Malfoy and his goons."

Cedric shrugged, "Susan Bones was walking by. She told Hannah Abbott, who told Justin Finch-Fletchley, and soon enough the whole House knew – information travels fast in Hufflepuff."

"Gossips," she muttered, but her tone was good natured enough that she knew he would understand that she wasn't offended.

"Everyone thought it was great," he told her, "Malfoy's a real piece of work."

She nodded her emphatic agreement – punching Malfoy had been an extremely satisfying experience.

Cedric looked over towards the direction of the campsite, where the smoke was beginning the clear and the shouts were dying down.

"It looks like it might be over," he said, "we should walk back together and I'll help you find the Weasleys. On the way you can tell me all about what Malfoy's reaction was when you hit him."

Hermione grinned, feeling relaxed for the first time since the chaos had erupted at the campsite.

She began to explain in great detail how Malfoy's nose had crunched as her fist broke it, and the two of them walked back to the campsite laughing.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.**


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